thumbnail of Houdini!
Transcript
Hide -
<v WHA-TV Speaker>Presentation of Houdini is made possible in part by the Oscar J Boldt construction <v WHA-TV Speaker>company, providing general construction machinery, installation and construction <v WHA-TV Speaker>management services throughout the nation. <v Presenter>Ladies and gentlemen, presenting for your entertainment <v Presenter>and amazement, the king of handcuffs, the master of manacles, <v Presenter>Harry Houdini! <v Presenter>So stay right where you are for the final story. <v Presenter>The incredible story of a man who made the impossible possible. <v Narrator>He was a man who became a legend by breaking loose from locks. <v Narrator>He was the man who could slip any earthly bond. <v Narrator>60 years after the magician's death, "To pull a Houdini" is still an expression
<v Narrator>that is part of our parlance. It still stands for something magical, something altogether <v Narrator>amazing. <v Narrator>Of his contemporaries, perhaps only Charlie Chaplin has had the staying power <v Narrator>of this entertainer, this escape artist who picked the medium of handcuffs and manacles <v Narrator>and got a lock on the public's imagination. [Audience cheers] <v Doug Henning>Thank you, I like to thank you for being so patient, this is a great honor for me to be <v Doug Henning>here today. This is where Houdini was born, right over there. <v Doug Henning>They just-pass the second light post, now-[Speech continues in the background] <v Narrator>It's a lock that still holds tight today. <v Narrator>In spring of '86, Doug Henning, one of the country's top magicians, made a stop <v Narrator>in Appleton, Wisconsin, the city that Houdini always claimed is his birthplace, <v Narrator>a sort of pilgrimage to pay homage to the old master on his birthday. <v Doug Henning>Houdini was my inspiration for my life when I was about seven. <v Narrator>Henning's tribute was one of Houdini's favorite bits of magic, [Henning says, "he was
<v Narrator>born in-"] Metamorphosis, the Trunk Trick. <v Doug Henning>Now, this illusion was first performed by Houdini around 1898. <v Doug Henning>It amazed people then, in fact, when Arthur Conan Doyle saw Houdini do this, He <v Doug Henning>actually thought the magician dematerialize, then passed right through solid. <v Doug Henning>It's the fastest delusion in the world and when we have a little music. <v Doug Henning>It's called metamorphosis. <v Doug Henning>[Music played] <v Doug Henning>Handcuffs, two chains are on each one of Debbie's wrists, lock with a padlocks, now <v Doug Henning>Houdini needs to do this, it took him about 20 seconds to do. <v Doug Henning>But today is a little more modern times and things are faster. <v Doug Henning>We're going to do it in the third of a second. Good, now down Debbie goes <v Doug Henning>inside the sudden sack. Good, help me throw on the top, put the line all the way around. <v Doug Henning>Now, don't blink your eyes, you'll miss, metamorphosis 1, 2, [Assistant says, "3!"]. <v Narrator>Magic, the delight comes from seeing reality, probability
<v Narrator>demolished. <v Narrator>Yet magic is, above all, showmanship that extra kick. <v Narrator>[Audience cheers] <v Narrator>Magic, metamorphosis at his peak, Houdini was one of the <v Narrator>world's most highly paid entertainers, he earned thousands a week and tens <v Narrator>of thousands in a week saw him perform. <v Narrator>Houdini was born Erik Weisz in 1874. <v Narrator>Son of a poor immigrant rabbi. <v Narrator>The family was often shackled with money woes, and when Erik was still a child, they left <v Narrator>Appleton. The first of many moves. <v Narrator>Metamorphosis, to change. <v Narrator>Young Erik had always dabbled with magic. <v Narrator>But things changed when he chanced upon the biography of a glamours French illusionist, <v Narrator>Robert Houdin, magic became a means of escape
<v Narrator>from the commonplace, the conventional. <v Narrator>Erik added an I to Houdin and took the name of his idol at the age of 17. <v Narrator>He left his job as a cutter in a New York City necktie factory to fashion a <v Narrator>new career as Harry Houdini, magician, king of cards. <v Narrator>Houdini's own history would have a similar impact on Sidney Radner of Holyoke, <v Narrator>Massachusetts, here surrounded by his collection of Magic and Houdini memorabilia. <v Sidney Radner>You know, when I was keep in mind as a youngster, I read the biography in one clip <v Sidney Radner>and I was hooked. He was just the greatest thing on Earth, he was the <v Sidney Radner>hero of heroes. <v Narrator>Caught by the spell Radner became a magician. <v Narrator>And just like Houdini, Radner soon graduated from cards and became an ace escape <v Narrator>artist. He was a protege of Houdini's brother, Hardeen, also <v Narrator>in the business. <v Sidney Radner>They're very-
<v Narrator>Radner is one of the last surviving experts on Houdini. <v Sidney Radner>These are rather unusual locks that Houdini had this collection. <v Narrator>Radner inherited through Hardeen, the bulk of Houdini's hand-cuff collection. <v Sidney Radner>Some of these are obviously oh my god, they're huge. <v Narrator>Hundreds of hand cuffs, keys, and locks, items of release and confinement. <v Sidney Radner>This is a very, very, very first graphic that Houdini put together <v Sidney Radner>with his own notes and first clippings and so <v Sidney Radner>on. <v Narrator>And scrapbooks. [Radner says, "And it starts off-"] Full of photos and stories. <v Narrator>The links to Houdini's past that detail the life and often very hard times <v Narrator>of the Magicians' early days, days spent on the road with his wife Bess, performing <v Narrator>in dime circus acts and burlesque shows. <v Sidney Radner>This supposedly is the first story in which Houdini got any <v Sidney Radner>kind of publicity for getting out of handcuffs when he stopped <v Sidney Radner>it and literally challenged the chief of police to get out of handcuffs.
<v Sidney Radner>The reason for the stunt and the reason why he came up with it is because <v Sidney Radner>he was traveling with the AmErikan Gaiety show and they weren't doing too well. <v Sidney Radner>So to drum up some publicity. Houdini started to do this handcuff that <v Narrator>The handcuff bit, the challenge act. <v Narrator>It would become Houdini's signature. <v Narrator>During his travels, he would challenge the local police to do their best to hold him. <v Narrator>Houdini simply could not be held anywhere by anybody. <v Narrator>What began with handcuffs did not end there. <v Sidney Radner>He uh got out of all kinds of strange devices many times, never <v Sidney Radner>having seen them before. That is where the challenge is. <v Narrator>Leg irons, manacles, straightjackets, jail cells, packing cases. <v Narrator>A <v Narrator>U.S. government regulation mailbag, a man sized football, a man sized
<v Narrator>envelope, a man sized sausage skin, anything that could be closed and confined <v Narrator>Houdini took on. <v Narrator>He accepted challenges from carpenters, lunatic asylum attendants, submariners, <v Narrator>suffragettes. <v Sidney Radner>This is what made Houdini, Houdini. <v Narrator>These challenges required not only an impressive knowledge of locks and picks, <v Narrator>but also a certain amount of sheer bravado, something that Houdini had in abundance. <v Narrator>This success was not an easy thing to capture. <v Narrator>Early in their career business was so bad for the couple that Houdini nearly took a <v Narrator>9 to 5 job with the Yale Lock Company. <v Narrator>He needed a break. So in 1900, he took on what would be his biggest <v Narrator>challenge. <v Narrator>At age 26, with $50 in his pocket and not a single booking to his name, <v Narrator>Houdini set sail for Europe. <v Narrator>There the master of manacles confounded Scotland Yard
<v Narrator>and Houdini was a hit. <v Narrator>His reputation secured in England, France, Germany, Russia. <v Narrator>His success in Europe made Houdini an instant headliner at home, the <v Narrator>days of hardship were over for the couple. <v Narrator>For the next 25 years, Houdini captivated the press and the public. <v Narrator>He became so synonymous with wonder that to Houdini eyes would become a word. <v Narrator>It would capture an entry in the dictionary. <v Narrator>Houdini was a superb athlete, small only 5 ft 5", but extremely <v Narrator>strong. Young Erik Weisz had tried out for the Olympic swimming and diving teams, <v Narrator>and even at age 50, Houdini could still hold his breath underwater for up to four <v Narrator>minutes at a time. <v Marie Blood>Now, that's Niagara Falls. When he did the Man from Beyond that-the best of <v Marie Blood>Houdini- <v Narrator>Marie Blood, Houdini's niece here shown visiting the magician on a movie set, <v Narrator>recalls visiting the Houdini household as a young girl.
<v Marie Blood>But nonetheless, one that actually lived with him in his home. <v Marie Blood>I'm the last one alive. I would knock on the door and they'd say "Come in Marie" <v Marie Blood>and I go in and I jump in bed with them. <v Marie Blood>And he would you know, he would hold me and hug me. <v Marie Blood>And then he would pinch me with his toes. <v Marie Blood>He could work his toes the way you work your fingers. <v Narrator>Yet magic is as much manipulation of the mind as it is manipulation of fingers <v Narrator>or toes. One of the top in the current crop of magicians, Harry Blackstone, <v Narrator>on Houdini. <v Harry Blackstone>His ability to communicate with the audience was unsurpassed, it was wonderful. <v Harry Blackstone>And they remember that, and the people felt that when they saw him perform, they saw
<v Harry Blackstone>a true miracle. <v Narrator>Miracles, of course, should be difficult to do. <v Narrator>Early in his career, Houdini hit upon this important secret, make it look hard, <v Narrator>even if it isn't. <v Harry Blackstone>Following his escape from the milk can, which was done inside of an enclosure <v Harry Blackstone>that one of his assistants came over to the enclosure where Houdini-Houdini <v Harry Blackstone>had long before escaped, but hadn't presented himself to the audience and said Harry, <v Harry Blackstone>you're reading the newspaper in there, I can hear you turning the pages, do it more <v Harry Blackstone>quietly. And Houdini's remark was tell the orchestra to play louder. <v Harry Blackstone>So apparently when he finished reading his newspaper, he would then take some of the <v Harry Blackstone>water and throw it on himself and come out and go through the grand act of <v Harry Blackstone>having just-just barely made it out. <v Narrator>Some claim that as a magician, Houdini was only average. <v Narrator>No one doubts that as a showman, he was an unsurpassed genius. <v Sidney Radner>Houdini was, in my opinion, one of the true greatest <v Sidney Radner>showman in American history.
<v Sidney Radner>The other being P.T. Barnum. <v Sidney Radner>I don't think that any other person before or after are equal to two, but there's no <v Sidney Radner>question Houdini was Houdini and Houdini spent a lifetime <v Sidney Radner>making sure that his name was in the paper bigger and better than someone else's. <v Sidney Radner>Everything you did was with a-with press in mind. <v Narrator>When others took on handcuffs, he jumped off bridges. <v Narrator>When others copied his milk can escape, he created the Chinese water torture cell. <v Narrator>Houdini was keenly aware of his competition and kept scores of scrapbooks on other <v Narrator>magicians. Blackstone's father, Harry Blackstone Sr, was one of the top magicians <v Narrator>of Houdini's era and one of Houdini's most bitter rivals. <v Harry Blackstone>For instance, there were items on Houdini's performance contract that he always used, <v Harry Blackstone>and it said that neither Blackstone <v Harry Blackstone>nor Thurston could work any theater that the great Houdini worked <v Harry Blackstone>for 30 days before or 30 days after. <v Harry Blackstone>As he gained more confidence, that became three months before and three months after.
<v Harry Blackstone>He hated competition. <v Harry Blackstone>Consider the case of the packing case, and he brought my dad up on charges of having <v Harry Blackstone>stole his idea of the underwater box escape. <v Harry Blackstone>Well, interestingly enough, my father had newspaper clippings that pre-dated Houdini's <v Harry Blackstone>attempts at doing this. <v Harry Blackstone>And Houdini said, well, if you really did it, show me the box that you <v Harry Blackstone>escaped from. And my dad said, yes, it's over in the warehouse. <v Harry Blackstone>This was when they were both in New York City. <v Harry Blackstone>They went over to the warehouse. And lo and behold, that box, that trunk that my father <v Harry Blackstone>had been using for many, many years was gone, never to be seen again <v Harry Blackstone>until in 1928, two years after Houdini's death, <v Harry Blackstone>the great Joe Dunninger, the mentalist and collector of magic memorabilia, went <v Harry Blackstone>to Houdini's home in uptown in New York City <v Harry Blackstone>and said to Beatrice, I want some of the material that Houdini had, <v Harry Blackstone>some of the memorabilia to put into my collection and to purchase it.
<v Harry Blackstone>And Bess said, sure, go ahead, whatever you want. <v Harry Blackstone>And he says, well, all of these books and papers and things, I need to carry them home. <v Harry Blackstone>She says, well, a bunch of boxes and things down in the basement. <v Harry Blackstone>He went down there. Here was this lovely trunk and he said, Bess could I have this? <v Harry Blackstone>She said, sure, take it. So he grabs it by the handle and starting to bounce it up. <v Harry Blackstone>The steps and the trap door which was used in this thing, fell open. <v Harry Blackstone>And inside of it on a small brass plaque, it said the property of Harry and Pete Buton, <v Harry Blackstone>my father and his brother's real name. <v Harry Blackstone>So that missing trunk somehow appeared in Houdini's basement. <v Harry Blackstone>And that's one of the great unsolved mysteries of magic. <v Narrator>Houdini did not always stick to magic to make his mark. <v Narrator>In 1910, he set out to conquer the skies above Australia. <v Narrator>He said about this feat, even if history forgets Houdini, the handcuff king. <v Narrator>It must write my name as the first man to fly here. <v Narrator>After several failures on March 16th, Houdini's fragile Voisin plane <v Narrator>inched skyward. The handcuff king broke free of the bonds of gravity
<v Narrator>and captured an entry in the record books. <v Sidney Radner>I think that most people have forgotten that. <v Sidney Radner>So Houdini was wrong, but they never forgot Houdini. <v Narrator>He was a man who could change with the times, metamorphosis. <v Narrator>When movies came in, Houdini plunged into a film career. <v Narrator>He battled Niagara Falls. <v Narrator>He battled nasty thugs. <v Narrator>And Houdini, of course, battled his way out of jails during his brief career on the <v Narrator>silver screen. <v Narrator>Yet Houdini could not beat back a different sort of pain. <v Narrator>All of his life Houdini was deeply devoted to his mother. <v Narrator>When she died, while Houdini was abroad on tour the magician was devastated.
<v Narrator>Letters to relatives bordered in black, spelled out his grief. <v Narrator>I can't seem to get over it. <v Narrator>Sometimes I feel all right, but when a calm moment arrives, I am as bad as ever. <v Narrator>My heart will always ache for our darling mother. <v Narrator>He longed to share some final words, and from this longing, began Houdini's foray <v Narrator>into spiritualism. <v Narrator>He made the acquaintance of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a tall, courtly English gentleman, <v Narrator>the creator of Sherlock Holmes and one of the world's most ardent believers in <v Narrator>spiritualism. <v Man>Oh, thou spirit your religion is based on <v Man>love and by that- <v Narrator>Through Doyle's auspices, Houdini attended hundreds of seances. <v Narrator>The magician knew all the tricks necessary to manufacture a message. <v Narrator>Yet his desire to communicate with his mother was so strong that he turned to <v Narrator>spiritualism. When it gave him no reply, he turned on it with a vengeance.
<v Sidney Radner>It looks entirely different than Houdini. <v Sidney Radner>But this is Houdini in disguise that he would typically make up and go <v Sidney Radner>and visit the medium and go and get information that led <v Sidney Radner>?via? mediums to the audience and debunk them right in the-right in the audience, <v Sidney Radner>and started to produce challenges for $10,000 to anyone who <v Sidney Radner>could do anything that he could not expose or could not duplicate and so <v Sidney Radner>forth. <v Narrator>With disguises and detective work, and absolute dedication. <v Narrator>Houdini took on the debunking of the spiritualists. <v Narrator>It was a typical Houdini performance. <v Narrator>But then he approached endeavor with an unabashed intensity. <v Narrator>Consider his literary collection. <v Narrator>Here at the Library of Congress rest the results of those efforts. <v Narrator>The bulk of Houdini's books on magic and spiritualism, all 4,000 <v Narrator>of them and over 100 scrapbooks stuffed with clippings. <v Narrator>Houdini, of course, had to have the biggest, the best collection in the world, and he
<v Narrator>succeeded. To be the best, that was what he wanted. <v Narrator>The recently retired curator of the Houdini collection, Leonard Beck. <v Leonard Beck>That's right, I'd say the best, all the time, all the time. <v Narrator>All this work had a purpose. <v Leonard Beck>It's well known that they made a practice of going to the graves of the dead magicians <v Leonard Beck>and making sure those graves were well taken care of, that <v Leonard Beck>it ?inaudible? a man trying to find roots for his <v Leonard Beck>art to justify, as perhaps almost to himself. <v Leonard Beck>Name of the word there is roots, and it is the seeds of the nothing like <v Leonard Beck>more than a man making pilgrimages to the graves of the saints, so to speak. <v Narrator>The man then became a saint, a kind of mountain, a Mount Everest for other magicians <v Narrator>to overcome. <v Harry Blackstone>Not a mountain. If anything, he's like the great wave that tends to keep <v Harry Blackstone>pushing us toward the shore. He has been the one who made magic <v Harry Blackstone>an acceptable variety medium.
<v Harry Blackstone>It is an acceptable art form. [Sounds of locks being unlocked and locked] <v Narrator>Driven by competition and his own curiosity. <v Narrator>Houdini constantly topped himself and made magic into something new. <v Narrator>Others pulled the rabbit from a hat. <v Narrator>Houdini made an elephant disappear. <v Narrator>Others swallowed fire. Houdini swallowed sewing needles and then pulled them from <v Narrator>his mouth threaded. <v Narrator>Others did dove acts, Houdini used an eagle. <v Narrator>The magician's inventiveness resulted in patents such as a diving suit and a constant <v Narrator>flow of new illusions. <v Narrator>He wanted to escape from a block of ice. <v Narrator>Tricky tried only in the movies, and he had plans to go over Niagara Falls <v Narrator>in a barrel, <v Narrator>he never made it. In October of 1926, Houdini began what <v Narrator>he described as his farewell tour.
<v Narrator>Early on, he broke his foot in the Chinese water torture cell. <v Narrator>Then in Montreal, he had an unusual encounter backstage. <v Narrator>Sidney Radner. <v Sidney Radner>Some students came back and one of the students asked him if it was true, they heard <v Sidney Radner>stories about his physique and so on and said asked him if it was true, if he could take <v Sidney Radner>a blow on the stomach. Houdini said, yes, he was really hale, and the student asked him <v Sidney Radner>if he could test him and Houdini said yes. <v Sidney Radner>This student gave him a good wallop and Houdini said no, that way <v Sidney Radner>gotta be ready. Let me know I wasn't ready. And he said, alright, now try it. <v Sidney Radner>So he ?inaudible?, and then hit him again. <v Sidney Radner>Houdini felt pains that night and felt that it was just muscle strains <v Sidney Radner>and so on, and continued with the show. <v Narrator>Houdini's superb physique was no match for the first unexpected blow. <v Narrator>It ruptured his appendix and peritonitis set in. <v Narrator>The doctors gave him less than 12 hours to live. <v Narrator>But Houdini hung on for over a week. <v Narrator>He died early in the morning on Oct.
<v Narrator>31st, Halloween. <v Marie Blood>I remember going outside. <v Marie Blood>I had heard my parents talk about that he was in the hospital. <v Marie Blood>I don't think they knew the extent of how sick he was. <v Marie Blood>And then all of a sudden we heard on the street the extras say years ago they used to do <v Marie Blood>that. And I ran in the house and I said to my mother, they're outside. <v Marie Blood>They're yelling, "Extra, Houdini dying." <v Narrator>Houdini was buried with a pillow of letters from his mother under his head and over <v Narrator>his grave. The American Society of Magicians broke a magic wand. <v Narrator>If the memory of this magician has not dimmed amid the waves of neon in <v Narrator>downtown Niagara Falls, Canada, one can pick out the lights of an unusual <v Narrator>museum. The Houdini Hall of Fame. <v Museum Speaker>This museum is being called the shrine dedicated to my memory, contains the only <v Museum Speaker>display of Houdini equipment and memorabilia in the world
<v Museum Speaker>after all- <v Narrator>It's flashy and theatrical and visited by thousands of tourists, Houdini <v Narrator>would love it. Henry Mueller, owner of the Houdini Hall of Fame, describes one <v Narrator>of the exhibits. <v Henry Mueller>And in this envelope is an original letter from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle <v Henry Mueller>to Houdini, where Houdini took ten words in that <v Henry Mueller>letter and circled the ten words. <v Henry Mueller>Then he wrote ten code words, which I have in my pocket. <v Henry Mueller>And the combination of those 20 words, the ten words circled and the ten words in my <v Henry Mueller>pocket make up the secret message which will come back if <v Henry Mueller>Houdini comes back. Houdini believed that if anybody could come back after <v Henry Mueller>death, it would be he. <v Sidney Radner>And this was the particular pair that Theodore Hardeen told me that <v Sidney Radner>Hardeen that Houdini said he would open up if he came back in a physical way. <v Sidney Radner>This has appeared on numerous séances and the center of the séance table. <v Narrator>Special handcuffs and special codes.
<v Narrator>Houdini may have scorned the spiritualists, but to his wife, he left a secret message <v Narrator>that would spell out her pet name, Rosabelle. <v Narrator>And the word believe if he returned, scores of séances later <v Narrator>and Houdini's silence has been his final victory over the spiritualists. <v Narrator>Yet other mysteries remain. <v Sidney Radner>These here were devices that Houdini use while he was in Germany, believe it or not, <v Sidney Radner>to open many of the German locks. <v Sidney Radner>Now, of course, people say, well, how could he could conceal um, well, I thought he <v Sidney Radner>did it very well. <v Narrator>The answers to some of Houdini's tricks were sometimes glaringly simple. <v Sidney Radner>If he said put this pair of handcuffs on there and then he would control which one <v Sidney Radner>was on first, second, third and fourth. This was important because if he-if he had <v Sidney Radner>examined the handcuffs and he found out that one might be very, very difficult <v Sidney Radner>and might be a problem. The trick there is to get it way up here to get 7 <v Sidney Radner>or 8 pairs of handcuffs on him and then get the ones that are difficult up here. <v Sidney Radner>So when you took off the first 5 or 6, the 7th could be slipped.
<v Narrator>Other solutions take some detective work, such as the search for a mystery man, <v Narrator>Jim Collins, seen here and there in Houdini's photos. <v Sidney Radner>Collins was Houdini's chief assistant for many, many years, <v Sidney Radner>and uh a magic show of any kind depends very much <v Sidney Radner>on a chief key assistant. <v Sidney Radner>He is all important in the ways that I can't begin to tell you without exposing tricks. <v Narrator>Sometimes the trick lay in a lump of clay. <v Sidney Radner>And what he would do is during the course of checking to see if handcuffs <v Sidney Radner>were working right. Well, locks were working right, he palmed this in his hands <v Sidney Radner>and got two impressions. One this way and <v Sidney Radner>one ?inwise? <v Sidney Radner>with those, his crew, his assistants could anticipate and get <v Sidney Radner>among the collection a lock pick that would be suitable for him to use on that particular <v Sidney Radner>lock or handcuffs.
<v Narrator>Or did his wife simply hand him a key hidden in a handshake? <v Narrator>The mechanics of magic can be easy to grasp or purchase. <v Narrator>Houdini himself bought his famous illusion of walking through a brick wall from another <v Narrator>magician. Tricks are easily obtainable, but tricks explain only part <v Narrator>of Houdini's mystery. After his death, Bess wrote these words about her husband. <v Narrator>"He buried no secrets. Every conjurer knows how his tricks were done, <v Narrator>with the exception of just where or how the various traps or mechanisms were hidden. <v Narrator>It was Houdini himself that was the secret." [Music plays] <v Leonard Beck>What makes greatness, dominance over the others in your field? <v Leonard Beck>Close the gap between what you are and what you could've been, and he really made <v Leonard Beck>something out of himself, didn't he? <v Leonard Beck>Maybe that's greatness. <v Harry Blackstone>He was of an era in which he personified what the great hordes
<v Harry Blackstone>of Europeans who came to the United States to escape the political problems that were <v Harry Blackstone>in Europe, that he was the personification of the great escape. <v Doug Henning>Magic teaches this very important lesson about life, and that's that nothing is <v Doug Henning>impossible. Nothing's impossible. <v Harry Blackstone>We can escape from the earthly and imaginary bonds that we create for ourselves. <v Harry Blackstone>That's more what Houdini did. <v Narrator>Most of us live lives that are often contained and cautious. <v Narrator>We keep our dreams locked away, our eyes closed to possibility. <v Narrator>Houdini caught our heart by breaking free from poverty, gravity, from <v Narrator>bonds of steel and iron. <v Narrator>Houdini, he made himself a living by escaping from locks and chains. <v Narrator>He made himself a legend by showing us the limits of any kind are illusions.
Program
Houdini!
Producing Organization
Wisconsin Public Television
WHA-TV (Television station : Madison, Wis.)
Contributing Organization
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip-526-9882j69777
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip-526-9882j69777).
Description
Program Description
"'Houdini!' is a documentary portrait of America's most famous magician, Harry Houdini. The career and charisma of this amazing showman is detailed through the use of film clips, photos, newspaper clippings, and interviews with magic historians and current magic greats, Doug Henning and Harry Blackstone Jr., the son of Houdini's greatest rival. "Through the clever use of sound and image and narration, the appeal of this legendary escape artist is described and explored. Through simple production techniques a picture emerges of this complex man from our country's past who continues to fascinate, even today."--1987 Peabody Awards entry form.
Broadcast Date
1987-04-04
Asset type
Program
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
00:28:58.937
Embed Code
Copy and paste this HTML to include AAPB content on your blog or webpage.
Credits
Interviewee: Blackstone, Harry Jr.
Interviewee: Henning, Doug
Producing Organization: Wisconsin Public Television
Producing Organization: WHA-TV (Television station : Madison, Wis.)
AAPB Contributor Holdings
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia
Identifier: cpb-aacip-d229eb83afd (Filename)
Format: U-matic
Duration: 0:27:56
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
Citations
Chicago: “Houdini!,” 1987-04-04, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 28, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-9882j69777.
MLA: “Houdini!.” 1987-04-04. The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 28, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-9882j69777>.
APA: Houdini!. Boston, MA: The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-9882j69777